Police morale low as officers worry about austerity

LOW morale among police staff in the UK is being reflected by officers across our region, according to Wiltshire Police Federation chairman Mike White.

A survey of 3,335 police by Unison, the UK’s largest union, exposed high levels of stress, largely down to cuts to the service.

The respondents said job insecurity (60 per cent), a lack of support from management (50 per cent) and concerns about the cost of living and pay (52 per cent), contributed to the growth of stress at work among police.

Mr White said: “Police officers don’t feel quite as vulnerable in terms of redundancy because they can’t be made redundant.

“As we continue to feel the effects of austerity, police officers make the best of it and deliver a good service to the public and trying to keep it safe.

“We know officers are continually concerned about the levels of staff and that’s adding to the pressures on the frontline. Officers have been the subject of a pay freeze whilst the cost of living continues to rise.

“We are being expected to do more with less resources, that undoubtedly affects morale. It’s at the stage where people have had enough in the bigger forces.

“In Wiltshire, officers are still wanting to come to work and still want to do the job as best they can.

“These findings are reflected in police officers and, I suspect, the officers doing it 24-7 are feeling more battered and bruised than others.”

Patrick Geenty, chief constable for Wiltshire Police, said: “The police service is going through some challenging times at the moment.

“The three-fold pressures of responding to austerity measures, the increasing demand for high quality, localised services and heightened scrutiny of the service makes it arguably the most pressurised environment the policing profession has faced.

“I recognise this and I’m committed to making Wiltshire Police a great place to work. My officers and staff work incredibly hard in difficult circumstances.

“That’s why I believe it’s important that as an organisation we provide support for our staff, reduce bureaucracy and give them the tools they need to provide the best possible service to our communities.

“It’s not something you can fix overnight but I’m pleased to say we’re starting to see improvements; we monitor how staff and officers are feeling through our staff survey and, encouragingly, our overall employee engagement figure has increased in the last year.”

Like any public sector organisation there is massive waste and inefficiencies due to their unique monopoly like place in business which will always breed complacency when you have no competition and need to be efficient. Yes it is always sad when people lose their jobs (as most of us have at least once) but as an essential service it does need to be run in the most effective way possible which it hasn't been for a long time if ever.

Like any public sector organisation there is massive waste and inefficiencies due to their unique monopoly like place in business which will always breed complacency when you have no competition and need to be efficient. Yes it is always sad when people lose their jobs (as most of us have at least once) but as an essential service it does need to be run in the most effective way possible which it hasn't been for a long time if ever.house on the hill

I'm not surprised police morale is low, imagine going out and arresting the same people every other week - only to them see the town's judiciary ensure those people are not jailed and, thus, able to continue committing the same crimes over and over again.

Very depressing, and not just for the police.

I'm not surprised police morale is low, imagine going out and arresting the same people every other week - only to them see the town's judiciary ensure those people are not jailed and, thus, able to continue committing the same crimes over and over again.
Very depressing, and not just for the police.Sandor Clegane

catman wrote:
I.shall.hold.my.tong ue. The real librarian and house on the hill, clueless muppets basing judgements on what they have read on the web yet again.

Cheers.

In the last fifteen years I have had contact with the Police about 17 times.

Me – not the web.

On one occasion I reported a burglary in my block of flats. The Police turned up and found the clueless **** still in the premises. They had broken open the door of the gas cupboard, where half a dozen gas meters were, and were smoking.

Genius stuff.

Despite the fact that they had broken down two doors, one of which the lock was hanging off – the moron in the blue suit who attended, flat-out denied they had broken in. 0/10

On two or three other occasions I reported drugs being sold to children from the bin-storage area. School age buying class A drugs.

No-one came

A while back I was assaulted by someone. Despite three witnesses and CCTV, the Oxygen thieves who attended let the guy off with a warning. It took me months to get him prosecuted. When it finally happened he pleaded guilty. The moron in the blue suit who is my liaison officer has yet to officially tell me that.

In all my encounters with the police, I have yet to have one experience where they did their job properly, without being made to, and who responded quickly and efficiently.

All in all, what would be the difference to my life if every single police officer in Wiltshire had stayed in bed for the last fifteen years?

None at all.

[quote][p][bold]catman[/bold] wrote:
I.shall.hold.my.tong ue. The real librarian and house on the hill, clueless muppets basing judgements on what they have read on the web yet again.[/p][/quote]Cheers.
In the last fifteen years I have had contact with the Police about 17 times.
Me – not the web.
On one occasion I reported a burglary in my block of flats. The Police turned up and found the clueless **** still in the premises. They had broken open the door of the gas cupboard, where half a dozen gas meters were, and were smoking.
Genius stuff.
Despite the fact that they had broken down two doors, one of which the lock was hanging off – the moron in the blue suit who attended, flat-out denied they had broken in. 0/10
On two or three other occasions I reported drugs being sold to children from the bin-storage area. School age buying class A drugs.
No-one came
A while back I was assaulted by someone. Despite three witnesses and CCTV, the Oxygen thieves who attended let the guy off with a warning. It took me months to get him prosecuted. When it finally happened he pleaded guilty. The moron in the blue suit who is my liaison officer has yet to officially tell me that.
In all my encounters with the police, I have yet to have one experience where they did their job properly, without being made to, and who responded quickly and efficiently.
All in all, what would be the difference to my life if every single police officer in Wiltshire had stayed in bed for the last fifteen years?
None at all.The Real Librarian

Police moral low because of job insecurity/bad managers/cost of living ,sounds like the rest of us working class but the police get a platform to shout about it, this country is creating a massive chasm for the Have's and have beggar All

Police moral low because of job insecurity/bad managers/cost of living ,sounds like the rest of us working class but the police get a platform to shout about it, this country is creating a massive chasm for the Have's and have beggar Alltwasadawf